


So Much Simpler

by sweetrevelation



Category: Scrubs (TV)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Marriage Proposal, Misunderstandings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-05
Updated: 2018-05-05
Packaged: 2019-05-02 16:17:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14548569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweetrevelation/pseuds/sweetrevelation
Summary: Carla inadvertently raises Elliot's suspicions while planning the perfect proposal.





	So Much Simpler

**Author's Note:**

> My first Reidspinosa fic!  
> Inspired by my own tumblr post: [[Link](http://sweetrevelation.tumblr.com/post/137053680328/)]

_—Flowers - Garden Shop 555-9384_

_—Restaurant_

_—Ring -_ _SIZE 6_

~~_—Orchestra?_ ~~

 

Carla quickly slammed her notebook shut when a blonde came into view. Her heart rate began to fall again when she realized it wasn’t her girlfriend.

 

She slumped into her chair. Planning Elliot’s dream proposal was a lot harder than—actually, it was exactly as hard as she’d expected. But when you want to spend your life with someone, a high-maintenance someone, you make some sacrifices. Like sleep.

 

“Hi, sweetie,” a perky voice said from behind Carla, causing her to jump approximately eight feet. “Whatcha doing?”

 

Carla turned in her chair, hoping the smile she plastered on was an innocent one. “Just some paperwork. Did you need something?”

 

Elliot snorted. “What, I need a reason to say hi to my girlfriend?”

 

“I didn’t realize it was a personal call,” Carla chuckled, reaching for Elliot’s hand to pull her closer. “We are, technically, both on duty.”

 

“ _Duty_ ,” Elliot echoed. “Why can’t I just hang out with you all day?”

 

Carla grinned. “You decided to be a doctor, that’s why. You have patients, baby.”

 

“Fine, fine,” Elliot relented. “But we’re still going out tonight.”

 

“Course we are,” Carla assured her. “We’ve had too many nights in lately.”

 

Elliot nodded. “And you’ve been so stressed out. I feel like we haven’t _really_ spent time together in weeks.”

 

Carla pressed her lips together nervously. It was true that work hadn’t been easy as of late, but she hadn’t realized how much the proposal planning was taking out of her.

 

“You’re right,” Carla said firmly. “We’re gonna have fun tonight and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

 

Elliot giggled. “Well, there’s nothing more fun than taking orders.”

 

“Absolutely,” Carla chuckled as she stood up to give Elliot a kiss that was just slightly past “appropriate for the workplace.”

 

“I’ll see you later,” Elliot said happily.

 

Carla waved, watched Elliot long enough to make sure she was gone, then spun back around to erase the line she’d drawn through the word “orchestra.”

 

* * *

 

“I just feel like you’re not here anymore,” Elliot said slowly, with a calculated calmness, instead of her signature shrieking. Carla decided the high-pitched yelling was preferable.

 

“I’m just stressed,” Carla pleaded. She’d tried to act more normal in the past two weeks, but Elliot was seeing right through it all. “There’s three nurses out with the flu, Kelso’s been riding me…”

 

“At least _someone’s_ getting some riding in,” Elliot grumbled.

 

Carla sighed. “I’m sorry, okay? I’m gonna make it all up to you. I promise.”

 

“Make it up to me? Like—” Elliot snapped her mouth shut, cutting herself off.

 

“Like what?” Carla asked tiredly. “Please, Elliot.”

 

“Like when you promised to make it up to Turk,” Elliot said flatly. “When we were spending a lot of time together and he got upset.”

 

Carla blinked in shock. “How _dare_ you throw that back in my face?” she hissed. “As I recall, you were the one who wanted even _more_ time! Never mind that I had a boyfriend—let’s make out!”

 

Elliot glared at Carla. “You came running whenever I asked. I’m sure it ate up a lot of—”

 

“Are you forgetting that I never laid a hand on you until I broke up with Turk?” Carla interrupted exasperatedly.

 

“You laid a lot of hands on me the same night you finally did,” Elliot muttered.

 

“Oh, my God,” Carla said under her breath. “Really. You’re really accusing me of this.”

 

“What am I supposed to think?” Elliot cried, letting some of the shrillness seep in. “Secret phone calls? Lying about being at the hospital when you’re not? Going straight to bed every night?”

 

“I know how it looks. I promise, there’s nothing going on.” Carla took a deep breath. “Let me explain.”

 

Elliot shook her head. “I need to go to sleep. Just… we’ll do this tomorrow.”

 

Carla swallowed and nodded. “If you want to.”

 

They changed for bed and brushed their teeth like passing ships—Carla couldn’t remember the last time they’d gone so long without speaking. She watched Elliot walk into the bedroom, and after some deliberation, opened the linen closet so she could make up the couch.

 

“Oh, come on,” Elliot said, just loud enough to be heard.

 

Carla closed the linen closet and walked slowly into the bedroom. Elliot was in bed, back turned. Carla climbed in, taking great care not to jostle anything.

 

“I can’t sleep without you,” Elliot confessed after a minute.

 

Carla tentatively looped an arm over Elliot’s waist. “You usually like big spoon,” she commented nervously.

 

“Usually,” Elliot repeated.

 

Carla swept a strand of hair behind Elliot’s ear. “I’m not seeing someone else.”

 

Elliot took a long pause before answering. “I know,” she said thickly. “I’m sorry.”

 

“It’s okay,” Carla whispered.

 

“That doesn’t mean… _it’s_ okay,” Elliot warned. “You have to tell me what’s going on.”

 

“Tomorrow,” Carla promised, though she shuddered to think of the deposits she’d lose. “We can go to sleep, and you’ll understand tomorrow.”

 

Elliot nodded, and they both soon drifted into troubled sleep.

 

* * *

 

Carla ground her teeth together as she wrote her patient’s vitals down. Elliot had barely said a word that morning. She seemed to be focusing all of her energy on throwing expectant looks Carla’s way.

 

_If I’m not gonna propose with the whole works, it’s at least gonna be over wine_ , Carla grumbled to herself.

 

“You sure that pen can handle the pressure?” Dr. Cox asked from behind her. Carla jumped, then rolled her eyes.

 

“It’s a sturdy pen,” she said distractedly. “Very… stable.”

 

“You still having trouble with Barbie?” Dr. Cox said. “Because you look like hell. And you’re really gonna break that pen.”

 

“Thanks,” Carla muttered. “My trouble with Elliot is none of your business, really.”

 

Dr. Cox shrugged. “Fine. She’s looking for you, by the way. Seemed important.”

 

Carla groaned. “It can’t be here,” she complained under her breath. “Fine. Whatever. My shift is over in fifteen minutes. I’ll find her myself when I’m done.”

 

Dr. Cox gave Carla a silent pat on the back and left her to the quiet ICU. Not ten minutes later, a pair of high heels clicked their way to where Carla was tending to the IV of a sleeping woman.

 

“Carla?”

 

The woman in question turned around with concern, having never heard quite that tone in Elliot’s voice.

 

“Hey,” Carla said cautiously. “I hear you were looking for me.”

 

Elliot nodded silently.

 

Carla’s brow furrowed. “Is… everything okay?”

 

Elliot shifted her weight from one foot to the other. “Will you marry me?” she asked calmly.

 

“What?” Carla blurted. “You—what?”

 

“I found your book,” Elliot said, finally letting a smile break through her face. “It was really thorough.”

 

Carla blinked at her, still dumbfounded. “I—yeah. Yes. I’ll marry you. Of course.”

 

Elliot giggled. “So that’s what you were doing that whole time? Trying to get everything ready?”

 

“Exactly,” Carla sighed. “It was supposed to be after dinner on Saturday. It didn’t really go according to plan.”

 

“That was really sweet of you,” Elliot said warmly. “But I kinda stopped really needing all that stuff when I started thinking about marrying you.”

 

Carla took Elliot’s face in her hands and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. “So you’re not mad anymore?”

 

“How could I be mad?” Elliot snorted. “You were gonna propose to me with a string quartet. You could’ve killed someone and I wouldn’t be mad.” A few patients turned their heads in alarm, but neither of them noticed.

 

“So… we’re engaged,” Carla said excitedly. “We’re gonna get married!”

 

“Yes!” Elliot said, clapping her hands. “There’s _so_ much planning to do. How are we gonna coordinate our dresses without seeing each other?”

 

Carla laughed. “We’ve got plenty of time for that, baby. I just can’t believe you did this. You didn’t even get down one one knee.”

 

“In this dress?” Elliot asked incredulously.

 

Carla smiled widely and took Elliot’s hand. “You know, you’re just in time to take me home.”

 

The two of them walked along in silence, though this silence was much more comfortable than it had been that morning.

 

“So, uh…” Elliot said slowly, after the appropriate amount of time had passed, “we’re still doing the big fancy proposal on Saturday, right?”

 

Carla grinned. “Obviously.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!  
> If you liked this fic, please give it a reblog! [[Link](https://carlysrae.tumblr.com/post/173613898824/)]


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